At 4.9 percent, the nation's unemployment rate is half of what it was
at the height of the Great Recession. But that number hides a big
problem: Millions of men in their prime working years have dropped out
of the workforce – meaning they aren't working or even looking for a job.
It's a trend that's held true for decades and has economists puzzled.
In the 1960s, nearly 100 percent of men between the ages of 25 and 54 worked. That's fallen over the decades.
In a recent report, President Obama's Council of Economic Advisers said 83 percent of men in the prime working ages of 25-54 who were not in the labor force had not worked in the previous year. So, essentially, 10 million men are missing from the workforce.
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